Happy Thanksgiving and welcome to to the inaugural of my website and this, my first post. Every so often I will provide some of my thoughts and experiences in the shop and maybe inspire someone out there to take up woodworking as a hobby or a profession. I hope you enjoy these posts and look forward to your comments.
Today, I want to discuss my thoughts upon entering my shop or any shop. I have a small basement woodshop where I go and escape from day-to-day life. You may not be as lucky as me and have your own shop. Don\u2019t let that discourage you. Check around your community. Some, like where I live, have community woodshops you can join. So, check around and maybe you can find one near you. I joined the community shop where I live and use it when I need tools that I don\u2019t have in my shop. They also become a place where your can learn from others and meet a great community of fellow woodworkers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Entering the woodshop, my five senses begin to soak up many things. First there is the smell of wood. When working on a project, I find that some species of wood give off their own scent. Cut into Pine and my shop smells like a pine forest. Cedar trees, such as Eastern Red Cedar, Spanish Cedar or Incense Cedar can have a long or lingering scent. Most rosewoods, like Brazilian Rosewood, have a rose-like scent while being worked, though is fades quickly when being worked. Sandalwood can<\/strong> retain its scent for decades. Some perfumes incorporated the essential oils from Sandalwood. Camphor on the other hand has the smell of medicated chest rub. There are others; however, the smell of any wood in my shop is wonderful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As one begins to plane wood it\u2019s color comes alive. The grain of the wood, whether flat, quarter or rift sawn stands out. Medullary rays of Tiger Maple or White Oak are more evident after planing . How about the sheen of a beautifully finished piece of furniture? The color and its variations, grain patterns and its warmth, to me, are the beauty of wood. Let\u2019s not forget about eye protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sounds from a wood shop can be enjoyable or harmful. Hearing protection should always be worn when using power tools. Most common power tools have decibel ranges from 80db to 120db. The is compounded when using multiple tools at the same time. For example, operating a table saw and a dust collector at the same time. There are many hearing protectors out there. I try to find earmuffs with a high Noise Reduction Rating (NRR). I like to use earmuffs with and NRR of 27db or higher. Foam earplugs and earbuds are also available with high NRR. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Typically, I do not use hearing protection when using hand tools. The sound a plane makes as it is removing those thin ribbons of wood. I have noticed different type of hands saws produce their own unique sound. The sound made by hand rasps, a bit brace with an auger bit, carving chisels and more all produce sound we come to learn as we use them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to touch, I love the feeling a soothing plane gives to a piece of wood. As the expression goes, \u201csmooth as a baby\u2019s bottom.\u201d I find hand scrapers can also give this smoothness. Making sure your tools are sharp will not only help the cutting action but provide a smoother surface. Using hand or power sanders are useful when moving through the various grits. I use a random orbit sander and depending on the surface of the wood after planing, I could start with 80 grit and move to 120, 180 and 220. In another post I will discuss my sanding process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now we come to taste. Freshly cut wood can have a more discernible taste than the kiln dried wood we using in our projects. Most woods have little or no taste when dried. For me, nothing beats the taste of a fresh cup of coffee throughout the day. And lest we forget, that wonderful coffee aroma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One final thought. We need to protect all of our senses. Use safety glasses, hearing protection, N95 dust masks for cutting, planing or sanding, a respirator rated for the type of finishing product you plan to use and a first aid kit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Happy Thanksgiving and welcome to to the inaugural of my website and this, my first post. Every so often I will provide some of my thoughts and experiences in the shop and maybe inspire someone out there to take up woodworking as a hobby or a profession. I hope you enjoy these posts and look […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-first-thoughts"],"yoast_head":"\n